Kiper joins Sanchez bandwagon for Seahawks

With the NFL draft just a day away now, Mel Kiper Jr. has come out with his updated mock and the ESPN guru has joined the chorus that sees the Seahawks picking USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.

You can check out Mel’s mock here if you’re an ESPN Insider subscriber. Kiper previously had the Seahawks picking Virginia tackle Eugene Monroe.

Mark Sanchez

I’m not so sure the Hawks are really leaning toward Sanchez, but it is interesting to note that Kiper now has also echoed Rob Rang of nfldraftscout.com in saying that LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson has jumped up the board to Kansas City at No. 3. Rang first projected that move Monday in his latest mock.

The pivotal team will be the Kansas City Chiefs. Much has been made of new general manager Scott Pioli’s penchant for trading because of his past with the New England Patriots. But I expect him to stay where he is for this draft (third overall) and turn the draft upside down by picking LSU DE Tyson Jackson. This kid is the best fit for the Chiefs’ 3-4, and Pioli clearly knows the value of a good defense. In my previous mock draft, I had Jackson going to the Denver Broncos at No. 12, but Jackson fits perfectly with the Chiefs and Pioli isn’t afraid to make a big play.

Another high riser in this draft is USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. He was criticized in some circles for not waiting a year and possibly being the overall No. 1 pick in 2010, but it looks like his gamble might pay off, as I have him going No. 4 to the Seattle Seahawks. Now, this could get interesting for Sanchez, because if Seattle doesn’t take him, he could fall to No. 13 and the Washington Redskins or No. 17 and the New York Jets. If he’s available after the Seahawks’ pick and before the Redskins are up, don’t be surprised to see the Jets move up to take him. They are very high on him.

If Jackson does go before Seattle’s pick, that leaves the Seahawks with a full array of choices at four, including LB Aaron Curry, WR Michael Crabtree or whichever big left tackle doesn’t go to St. Louis at No. 2 (the consensus seems to be that Jason Smith will go there, leaving Monroe on the board to tempt the Seahawks).

I agree with Rang that if Seattle stays put at No. 4, they’re more likely to go with Curry. But as Seahawks GM Tim Ruskell noted Thursday, this seems like one of those years when everything is so unpredictable that there are going to be a whole lot of surprises on Saturday.

Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, for all you Clare Farnsworth fans out there, it’s great to see the long-time P-I beat writer resurface this week at seahawks.com. Here’s his take on Thursday’s pre-draft press conference with Ruskell, Jim Mora and Ruston Webster at Seahawks HQ.

Clare also is going to be doing a lot of on-air analysis this weekend on ESPN 710 Seattle.

UPDATE (10:35 a.m.): This is interesting, as Peter King of Sports Illustrated has changed his mock to indicate the Seahawks going with Crabtree instead of Sanchez. King says “people he trusts” are telling him Seattle is debating between Crabtree and Curry.

Here is King’s updated mock, which differs from the one he went with in this week’s magazine.